Vise mechanism



E MECH E. A. oom f Filed NOV. `8, 1939 Feb' 24 1942.

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Patented Feb. 24, 1942 UNITED STATES PTENT OFFICE 2,274,428 vIsE MECHANISM Eugene A.` Odin, Chicago, Ill. Application November 8, 1939, Serial No. 303,351

4 Claims.

My invention is concerned with a jaw structure for vises used to take up the mechanical slack commonly experienced in the conventional machine vises which have a tendency to lift up the work when it is clamped, and comprises a comparatively simple structure which I have found by practice to be well adapted for its purpose.

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto a sheet of drawings in which the same reference characters are applied to the same parts in all the figures, in which- Fig. 1 is a longitudinal and `central vertical section through yso much of a vise as is necessary to illustrate my invention.

. Fig, 2 is a perspective view, on a larger scale, of one ofthe jaws detached, and with a portion thereof broken away.

Figs. 3 and 4 are end elevations of the same, Fig. 3 showing the position of the parts when not in use, and Fig. 4 showing vthe same when I firmly clamped on the work, and

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the line 5-5 I I2, are shown, number II and its companion standard (not shown) being connected by a cross-piece I3, which serves as a bearing in which the screw I4 turns, while at the other end, a similar cross-piece I5, connecting the standard I2 and its companion (not shown) has a bearf ing for the other end of the screw I4, which is held from longitudinal movement by the collar I5 pinned on that end, and at the other end by the shoulder formed by the handle bearing I'I. An inverted channel bar I8, secured on the adjacent ends of the cross-pieces I3 and I5, covers the screw I4, and forms a slide bearing for the bottom piece I9 of the movable jaw support 20, threaded on the screw I4. The cross-piece I5 has secured thereon the bottom part 2I of the fixed jaw support 22 forming an extension of the bearing for the screw I4 in the cross-piece I5. It will be obvious that by turning the screw I4, the jaw support 20 may be brought towards the support 22 to clamp whatever may be desired between the jaws proper, the novel construction of which forms a novel feature of my present tending from the back of the jaw a cylindrical lug 23 Vadapted to fit in at either end of the members 20 and 22. As these jaws can be inserted in either end of the bore 24, my vise can be used either to hold objects by clamping them between the jaws, or by spreading'them against the inner faces thereof. I preferably lock the jaws in place, as seen in Fig. 1, by set screws 25 passed through a plate 25, preferably of the same surface dimensions as the back of the upper portion of the jaw supports 2U and 22, and threaded into an aperture formed in the end of the lugs 23.

The rear jaw members 2l and the face members 28 have on their engaging faces a series of complementary cam surfaces 29, extendingV longitudinally thereof, each surface meeting a horizontal seat 30. I have preferably shown four of these cam surfaces 29 on each face with a seat 3i! between each pair of cam surfaces, each seat 30, as it were, connecting two of the surfaces 29. In the central portion of the two inner surfaces 29, I form a comparatively deep horizontal slot 3l, in which is placed a bowed leafspring 32 of a thickness preferably equal to about half the width of the slots 3|', and of a width approximately equal to the combined depths of the opposed slots 3l in which itis placed, and each vspring 32 preferably has two or more bows.

The action of these rear jaw and face members is best shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4, Figs. 2 and 3 illustrating the position of the parts before the clamping occurs, and Fig. 4 that when they are fully clamped. In Fig. 3, it will be seen that the slots 3| are exactly in register and the springs 32 have their bowed shape. As the face members 28 are forced by the pressure to which they are subjected by the action of the screw I4 toward the rear jaw members 21, the cooperating cam surfaces 29 force the face member 28 downward to the position shown in Fig. 4 where the seats 30 are in contact, and the bowed springs 32are flattened out and held under tension. When the pressure is relieved, the springs 32 force the face members back up to the normal position shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

To prevent the accidental detachment 0f the face members 28 yfrom the rear jaw members, while permitting their ready connection thereto, I form or cut in their opposed faces the angular slots 33 starting from the substantially centrally located vertical surfaces 34, which extend the length of the faces, and are in the vertical plane of the inner ends of the seats 3D, and from the similarly located longitudinally extending surfaces 3'5, the angle and position of the slots 33 relative to the surfaces 34 and 35 being such as to form on each face an overhanging beveled portion 36, adapted, when the two faces are brought together, to enter the opposed slots 33, which have the same angle as the cam surfaces 29, so that when pressure is applied to the object to be clamped, the portions 36 slide on each other until the seats 3D contact, as shown in Fig. 4.

To prevent the possible longitudinal displacement of the face members relative to the rear jaw members, I provide the centrally located abutment 31 associated with one of the members and fitting snugly into a recess 38 in the other member, the vertical length of the recess being greater than that of the abutment, so as not to interfere with the previously described relative vertical movement of the face member on the rear jaw member. As a convenient method of constructing the abutment and recess, I mill out a recess 38 in each of the members, as shown in Fig. 2, and employ the rectangular block 37 fitting in both of the recesses 38, so as to prevent their relative longitudinal movement while not interfering with the slight relative vertical movement heretofore described.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. In a vise, the combination with a pair of jaws, of means for moving said jaws relatively to clamp articles between them, each of said jaws comprising a back piece having a horizontal slot in its face toward the upper portion thereof and a similar slot in its face toward the bottom prtion thereof, and cam surfaces above and below each of the slots, together with a cooperating front piece having in its rear face a pair of horizontal slots registering with those on the back piece and cam surfaces above and below each of said slots cooperating with and always in contact with the cam surfaces on the back piece so that when the jaws are clamped on an article, the front pieces will be forced downward, bowed leafsprings in said slots acting to return the front pieces to normal when the pressure thereon is released, and connections between said front and back pieces in the faces thereof to prevent their accidental separation and relative longitudinal movement.

2. A vise as described in claim 1, in which said connections consist in part of overhanging beveled portions on each of said faces between the cam surfaces.

3. In a vise, the combination with a pair of jaws, of means for moving said jaws relatively to clamp articles between them, each of said jaws comprising a back piece and a front piece moved downwardly thereon when an article is clamped between the two front pieces and moved upwardly when the article is released, the back piece of one of said jaws having a horizontal slot in its face toward the upper portion thereof and a similar slot in its face toward the bottom portion thereof, and cam surfaces above and below each of the slots together with a cooperating front piece having in its rear face a pair of horizontal slots registering with those on the back piece and cam surfaces above and below each of said slots cooperating with and always in Contact with the cam surfaces on the back piece so that when the jaws are clamped on an article, the front piece will be forced downward, a bowed leaf-spring in said slots acting to return the front piece to normal when the pressure thereon is released, and connections between said front and back pieces in the faces thereof to prevent their accidental separation and relative longitudinal movement.

4. A vise as described in claim 3, in which said connections consist in part of overhanging beveled portions on each of said faces between the cam surfaces.

EUGENE A. ODIN. 

